Balsamic cherry dark chocolate scones

These balsamic cherry dark chocolate scones are a delicious balance of tart and sweet. They’re crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside and perfect for breakfast.

You might’ve noticed a bit of a cherry theme this week. Partly because I have a ridiculous sized bag of frozen tart cherries in my freezer, partly because I thought it was a cute not over the top way to celebrate Valentine’s day/week and partly so we could talk a bit about tart cherries today.

I’ve been a fan of sour and tart foods pretty much since the beginning. You could find me drinking the balsamic dressing (we weren’t a bottled salad dressing kind of house) out of the bottom of the salad bowl or sucking on a lemon straight up as a kid. Ok, I still do the salad dressing thing, not gonna lie. The more it makes your lips pucker, the better. You couldn’t pay me to eat a Skittle. Sugary hard candy does absolutely nothing for me, but hand me a package of Sweet Tarts and I’m a happy camper. So hearing from the Cherry Marketing Institute that tart is going to be “in” this year is pretty damn exciting. Apparently, America is moving away from sweet (insert church choir cries of hallelujah here. If someone could send this memo over to Pinterest, I’d appreciate it) and the sour/tart flavor profile is taking it’s place.

This post is part of the Healthy Aperture Blogger Network as part of the #GoTart campaign. I was compensated for my time and received free samples of the tart cherries mentioned. As always, opinions and content are my own. Thanks for supporting the sponsored work I choose to feature.

This I can get down with.

Not only is the tart thing a nice change from the sickly sweet stuff that’s trended for far too long (in my opinion) but it can also be good for you. A sour taste in fruits and vegetables is often associated with more phytonutrient compounds and dried tart cherries in particular are a great source of vitamin A.

The cool thing about tart cherries is they’re incredibly versatile too which you hopefully saw from my posts this week. Paired with chocolate, they’re a nice balance of sweet and tart for dessert, paired with savory spice, they can make a delicious addition to dinner and then of course, they can also hold their own as the main flavor profile like in these balsamic cherry dark chocolate scones.

Sweet, sweet scones aren’t my thing. I love eating them for breakfast or with a cup of tea in the afternoon, not as a dessert. My favorite is when they have a hint of brightness in them from some fruit or zest and the tart cherries in these do just that. If you’re a sucker for sour like me, the balsamic glaze is the perfect addition. If you think that’s too weird (well, you’re crazy but whatever) just leave it off, you’ll still get plenty of tart shining through from the cherries that were reduced with the balsamic beforehand.

These balsamic cherry dark chocolate scones are a delicious balance of tart and sweet. They're crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside and perfect for breakfast.

Author: Gina Matsoukas

Recipe type: scones

Serves: 8

Ingredients

1 cup frozen tart cherries, thawed and halved

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

1¼ cups whole wheat white flour

¾ cup oat flour

½ cup rolled oats

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup coconut sugar (or, organic cane/turbinado sugar)

4 tablespoons cold butter, diced

½ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup dried tart cherries, roughly chopped

¼ cup dark chocolate chips

cane sugar for topping

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, combine the thawed cherries and balsamic vinegar. Cook down for about 10 minutes until the vinegar has reduced and thickened into a syrup and coated the cherries. Turn off heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.

Cut the butter into the flour mixture either with your hands or a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly and coarse and the butter is worked through.

Whisk together the buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine with a spatula.

Spoon the cherries from the pan leaving behind the extra balsamic into the bowl. Add the dried cherries and chocolate chips and gently fold into the dough.

Form a 9-10 inch circle with the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat.

Using a wet knife, cut the circle into 8 wedges.

Sprinkle the tops of the scones with the extra cane sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the scones from the oven, using the knife, separate the wedges from each other so that they aren't touching and return to the oven for another 3-5 minutes until the edges are golden and crunchy.

Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Use the remaining balsamic in the pan to drizzle over the scones before serving if desired.

Cherry smoothies, yum! Add a little coconut and your all set. On these awesome looking scones – I must make them this weekend. And if you have too many tart cherries on hand, I’ll be glad to offload some for you! ha

I made these and they were very good (although mine didn’t look as pretty!). Went nicely with a cup of hot green tea. I actually used dried cranberries instead of dried cherries since I didn’t have the cherries, but it still turned out good. The chocolate is a nice touch, not too much but just enough. Next up. the coconut granola.

I love tart and bitter flavors too, so will definitely have to give this a try! Have you every macerated strawberries in balsamic vinegar? It is the BEST! With your penchant for balsamic I think you’d love it.

Wow! How interesting, I bet that would be wonderful though! I love balsamic and strawberries, so why not cherrys and dark chocolate….in a scone! I am British, so liking scones is pretty much a requirement :) Would love these as a breakfast after my run in the mornings!

I can’t say enough about cherries! I LOVE to use the dried tart cherries in salads, breads, muffins, in my outmeal. With nuts! All alone! I love the tart cherry juice, I love to mix it with some fizzed water. Cherries are my favorite!

Those look delicious. Would be great for breakfast, but also would make a fun sweet to serve at a ladie’s night with a fun cherry cocktail (cherry juice, club soda, lemon juice, vodka and basil as a garnish).

Meet Gina

Hi, I'm Gina. I like food. A lot. That's what you'll find here with the occasional smattering of fitness & sarcasm. Learn More →

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